For the third consecutive year, Hyundai Hope on Wheels presented MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) with a $250,000 check to support pediatric cancer research.

Hyundai donates $250,000 to MGHfC

14/Sep/2012

HANDPRINTS OF HOPE: MGH staff and Hyundai representatives.

For the third consecutive year, Hyundai Hope on Wheels presented MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) with a $250,000 check to support pediatric cancer research. The program will award $10.25 million to 41 recipients throughout September in honor of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Staff from MGHfC and representatives from Hyundai celebrated the donation at a Sept. 7 event in the Bulfinch Tent.

The MGHfC funds will go to Miguel Rivera, MD, assistant molecular pathologist, for his research on genomic abnormalities in osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma, the two most common pediatric bone tumors. These are tumors with significant rates of metastasis and survival rates of approximately 65 percent, considerably lower than the average for most pediatric tumors. Rivera’s work is a collaboration involving the departments of Pathology, Pediatric Oncology and Orthopædic Surgery.

“We believe that our project has a high likelihood of providing novel insights into cancer biology and revealing opportunities for therapeutic intervention,” Rivera told the six Boston-area Hyundai representatives in attendance. “We really appreciate your confidence in our mission and your trust in what we do.”

Burke puts her handprint on Rivera.

Ken Bloech, regional general manager for Hyundai, presented Rivera with a white coat featuring the Hope on Wheels logo and the handprint of Samantha Burke, 22, an MGHfC patient, to remind Rivera of those his work will help. Burke and other pediatric oncology patients covered a canvas with their handprints and initials, which Howard Weinstein, MD, chief of MGHfC Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, gave to Bloech as a token of thanks.

In honor of its 14th year fighting childhood cancer, Hyundai Hope on Wheels will donate an additional $5,000 to 14 of the 41 grant recipients. From now until Sept. 30, MGHers can vote for MGHfC to receive that money by tweeting “Vote @mghfc #Tweet4Hope.”